Traitor

Days go on. Seasons come and go and like a snap of fingers, 3 years has passed. Liza is 15 years old now and unlike her previous self, she looks more self proficient now. Though she was still as skinny as ever. Years of her training wasn't for nothing. She can now hold her breath for over 3 minutes now and pass that bloody wooden corridor without making noise really quickly. Even Joaquim who used to be nasty with her at the beginning stopped punishing her and would even praise her time to time.

She has picked up some other useful skills too. Like dusguising. She can now turn herself into a boy or even an elderly really quickly. She is also good with her parkours. Once she starts her free run she can pass through any small gap she can find and no one can catch up to her. But the most important thing is her skill with daggers. Its the only weapon she was taught to use and she did so quite professionally. Although her knife throwing skill wasn't that good yet, she was determined to get it better over time as well.

It was only thanks to these skills that she was alive till today. Or she would have been caught in her work a long time ago and would have been beaten to death or fed to hounds. Except for killing she had done almost all the dirty works possible like stealing, smuggling or spreading false rumours.

Since one year ago she has been a little distant from Alicia. That was when she had blatantly denied to do Joaquim's dirty works. Joaquim was really mad at that time and forbid anyone to get too close to her or help her in any way. She thought Alicia would be in a really tight spot after that and she was prepared to help her secretly even if it meant going against Joaquim but to her surprise Alicia somehow managed to gather her own food by nightfall most of the days. She told her to ask for help anytime she couldn't take it anymore but Alicia would just say with a smile "God will show me the way"

Today was a good day for training. Liza was in her favourite training place, the riverside base practicing her knife throwing. She could throw 7 out of 10 daggers accurately to her target which wasn't to her satisfaction. She had to get better and only training could make her perfect. She was totally immersed in her training when suddenly a commotion seemed to break out in an alley close to her. It seemed one man was Shouting on top of his voice whereas the other was trying to hush him with reasoning. She was intrigued and went close to the source. Covering herself behind a corner she kept her ears on the wall and the topic became clearer.

"I am telling you. We are doomed !" shouted the loud man again.

"Calm down. Are you certain that the supplier has really been hanged?" the relatively calmer person tried to calm the other party down.

Liza identified both of the voices. One was that she hears almost everyday, the right hand man of Joaquim, Victor. And the other she had only heard in some group meetings, Liam, the informer. He was in charge of gathering all the top secret news all over the stronghold, specially those concerning the lord and the church.

"Damn yeah I am sure! I have seen with my own eyes! I have told boss again and again to do whatever but never ti enrage the church. Now see the mess we are in."

"But just because the supplier died doesn't mean they will directly take any action against us rats right? Regardless the possibility of it being tracked back down to us, surely the church has other important matters to attend to than waste their time on us?"

"You think this matter isn't important? Joaquim has been buying a portion of food that goes to church at a low price from the supplier for a long time now. It was always a matter of time before they found something was wrong."

"But this business has been going on for 10 years now! And the supplier is trustworthy. He won't sell us out even at the cost of life. Why would we be compromised now all of a sudden?"

"We have a spy among us I am telling you! " Liam shouted louder than ever. "They knew everything from the start. The location of transaction, the people doing it and even the date and time. And now its too late to regret. I have news that a joint army of the lord and the church which can flatten a small town easily is being gathered near the lords castle as we speak. It seems the lord is determined to kill as many of us as possible in the name of helping the church"

"A spy? Damn it!! How could we have been so careless! I need to need Joaquim about situation as quickly as possible" Victor had started running even before he had completed his sentence.

Liza frowned. Stealing church's ration? What was Joaquim thinking! Its the church we are talking about! Even the king of greycastle tries not to offend them! And now they were planning an attack on rats?

"Damn it, I must inform the others before its too late" knowing Joaquim after he hears the news he would think about fleeing himself first without bothering about anyone else. Honestly speaking, so would Liza. She wasn't a saint to think about others when her safety wasn't guaranteed. But Alicia was there too!

Liza started running at the top of her speed. To save time, she used the rooftop of the city to parkour her way to the North Eastern area of the slum where their shade was but when she reached there she got goosebumps upon seeing the sight. This scenery would be etched in her memories for eternity.

The whole slum was burning!

People were running fanatically in search of exit but those who did manage to get out were captured by soldiers waiting outside and would be put in cages like animals. Anyone who resisted would be cut down regardless their age or gender.

She saw Victor who tried to put up a fight with some of the remaining rats and was soon riddled with countless arrows from all directions along with others. She shuddered at the thought of what would happen if she stayed inside the slum today. Would she become a porcupine too had she remained there?

At that time she saw two spearmen bringing a muscular man who seemed to be still putting up a struggle forward, spiking at their will along the way. One spearman bowed before a man in black robe and said "Reporting to high priest, this man is the ring leader here and is called by Joaquim. He surrendered as soon as the last line of resistance failed. Should we kill him like others"

In front of death the generally arrogant Joaquim seemed to have lost all his pride and kowtowed the man in robe deeply pleading "Sire, I could be useful. I have all the information about all the influential figures in town. And if its not information that you need, I could be a foot soldier at your command and would do anything for you"

"We don't need any information. What nobles do is their business, we don't interfere in such trifle matters and we don't need a sinner like you as our soldier."

After a little pause he raised his voice a little "Child you can come out now"

A tall girl came out from behind the soldiers. Liza didn't have to look twice to know who it was. She was the reason she had come running all the way here! Alicia?!

While she was bewildered by this sight, Joaquim on the other hand seemed a little shocked then seemed to link some dots and finally erupted in anger "You! You traitor! I should have known. How could someone survive as a rat without dirtying their hands! Indeed. I thought you must have taken some lord's pity and he might be using you as his plaything to give you food but to think you would betray your kind instead!! You will be going to hell for this"

"Enough! You are not the one who decides who goes to heaven or hell! Go child. His life is yours to take. Use his blood to wash away your sins" harumphed the high priest coldly.

"Yes high priest." Alicia took the sword from an armored soldier who was offering it to her and went towards Joaquim slowly. Her low voice sounded "I am not your kind. Never was. "

She raised the sword. Joaquim closed his eyes to meet his final moment. One second passed, two seconds, a whole minute passed but the sword didn't drop.

"Its alright child. Its really normal to hate violence. But someone has to take up the sword so that others can feel safe." The high priest reassured "Come. Let me guide you"

With that said the high priest took the girl's shaking arms holding the sword and thrust it towards Joaquim's neck. With a muffled scream Joaquim closed his eyes for the last time.

Just at that time when everyone's eyes were fixed on the man lying dead on the street, someone suddenly shouted "I see someone on that roof! Could be enemy sniper! Protect high priest. All crossbows take aim!"